Every October, the same question arises on the internet: can white folks respectfully dress up as Black icons for Halloween? The short answer: It depends. And with the success of the Ryan Coogler film “Sinners” earlier this year, we’re seeing them put it to the test.
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A couple white girls on TikTok have gone viral for dressing up at the Smokestack Twins (both portrayed by Michael B. Jordan in the film), as folks have all kinds of opinions regarding the propriety of anyone non-Black even attempting the costume.
“Black people dress up as white characters all the time. As long as they aren’t doing blackface this fit goes hard! Some of yall are bugging it’s Halloween,” one wrote.
“I think everyone in the comments is missing that race was such a big part of their story,” a second penned.
“There’s no issue with y’all dressing as the twins. No black face, no problem. That’s like getting mad at a white kid for dressing as black panther,” another added.
In general, it appears that the young ladies will largely survive the internet’s wrath because they didn’t take it further than wearing the twins’ outfits. In many cases, what starts as “appreciation” too often slips into impersonation. And somewhere between the makeup aisle and the costume party, good intentions start looking a lot like mockery.
We’ve seen it before — from college frat parties gone viral to celebs who somehow thought painting their skin “just a little darker” was totally fine. (It wasn’t.) The problem isn’t paying homage to Beyoncé, Prince, or Michael Jordan. It’s that their likeness isn’t a costume — it’s culture, history, and identity.
If you genuinely admire a Black icon, there are ways to do that without crossing the line. If you’d like to grab a throwback Chicago Bulls outfit, grab your basketball, and rock some Jordan 1’s, we doubt anyone would be upset about that. Now that I think about it, we might even be impressed.
All we ask is that you step away from the face paint. Because when it comes to Black face, you are liable to get dragged all across the internet. Find other ways to show up and show out without a full-on minstrel show.
Straight From 
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